Magia Zexal Rewrite
by BumblebeeYandereGirl
Summary: Rewritten version of Magia Zexal
1. Go with the Flow

_'I have to reach that door.' She thought to herself as she tried to speak but her voice seemed lost or rather gone, the minute she opened her mouth and a mysterious figure took it away from her and began to chase the figure until she found a door and began walking to it._

_Each step she took was slow as she continued to walk to the door down the hallway but each time she walked forward, it looked like it was getting away before she finally caught up to it._

_She traced the design of the door as she felt its cool yet comforting touch upon her hand before opening it as she held the door knob and opened the door to see a beautiful room with sparkling blue crystals and stain glass windows as she stared in awe before she heard snarling coming from behind as she saw blue dogs that were snarling before they charged at her and attacked her by tickling licks on her neck and face as she laughed._

_"That tickles!" She laughed before realizing that her voice had come back as she began to question herself before one dog had her on its back and running down the hallway as she gripped on tightly before the dog stopped and she tumbled into something or rather someONE._

_All she could stare into was his eyes, one gold and the other silver._

_"Are you alright?" He asked as she blushed by the sound of his voice as she nodded before the dogs came back and wagging their tails as she was tackled by the dogs before the mysterious blue spirit was closer to her as their lips nearly touched before--._

A~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A

"Iroha! Big sis!" Ui jumped on the bed which woke up Iroha from her dream as she sat up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes before she got dressed, tying the strange golden charm in her hair and began walking to the kitchen and she began to cook breakfast for her and her little sister as she looked to see the extra servings she made as she sighed before making another for Ui who going to dropped off at school near the news station with her friends.

"I'll see you after school Ui!" Iroha said as she kissed her little sister's forehead before heading out until Medi-Bot, Ui's medical bot gave Iroha her book she had left before Iroha patted the robot on its head.

Iroha ran on the way to school when she heard Bronk call out to her about any assignments he missed and she told him some math and some reading assignments before he rode off on his skateboard and she reached her class before the bell rang.

"Iroha!" Tori Meadows, Iroha's best friend called out to her as Iroha waved to her as they continued their day as it started out pretty good until Dueling Period started, Iroha wasn't good with technology, she still used a duel gazer for dueling and a duel disk that was used in Duel Academy back when the infamous Jaden Yuki graduated as a Slifer Red.

Iroha used the instructions and she knew quickly on how to activate it and check her traps and which one to use and she began to duel naturally.

"Oh no..." Tori said as she saw Bronk duel the school bully, Shark Kastle, his real name is Reginald Kastle but he doesn't use it often, Iroha did her best to avoid him because he was staring at her mostly and that disturbed her.

She felt like he just follows her everywhere she went, the mall, the book store, heck, he even followed her to the grocery store.

Both girls walked up the stairs to see Shark taking Bronk's deck before Iroha walked to Shark and grabbed his hand. "What are you doing?" She asked trying to sound tough at the bully while his cronies stepped back.

"What does it look like? He lost the duel and now he lost his deck." Shark said placing Bronk's deck somewhere before Iroha grabbed his arm. "What you're doing is wrong and I think that's what a coward would do! Taking others decks would show that they're not strong but they're cowards!" Shark stopped as Iroha felt a dark aura surrounding him.

"Tch...Coward, do you know what happened to the last person who called me a coward, girl?" Shark asked as he backed her against the fence as she had her arms on her chest. "N-No?" She stuttered, losing the courage she had built up as he gripped her shoulders hard.

"BECAUSE NO ONE HAS EVER SAID IT BEFORE!!" He shouted as she fell to her knees before her hair got caught on the fence before Shark saw the golden charm in her hair. "My~. This must be valuable for you, if it's not enough, we wouldn't want little Ui to be hurt now would we?"

That snapped Iroha as she slapped his face and everyone saw. "Since your sister is so important let's say something happened to this key, oops." he said dropping it as he stepped on the key as her eyes widened at the sight of the broken charm and never noticing her long hair loose because of the charm out of her hair.

"You and me. Tomorrow, at the mall bright and early." Shark said as he left with his cronies as Tori comforted her friend as Bronk picked up the broken charm and headed back to his place to fix the charm.

Iroha went to pick up Ui and her friends before her little sister noticed how sad Iroha looked and her charm was missing. Nemu and Touka placed the pieces together, they knew that Shark was a jerk and the way Iroha was protective of them.

"Reginald Kastle did something to provoke you in such a state where you put yourself in such a way to guard us from potential danger, what did he do this time in such inhumane manner that disturbs you in such a sorrow state?" Touka asked as Iroha sighed and placed the carrot she was cutting down and looked at Touka before she took her into the kitchen where Ui and Nemu couldn't hear.

"Shark...broke the charm I had in my hair and he threatened me about Ui...please, I don't want her hurt." Iroha told her as Touka frowned hearing of the threat Shark had told Iroha.

Iroha continued cooking as she finished cooking before she received a call from Tori from her phone as she answered it as she listened to her friend talk to her until Ui heard over the conversation.

"Ui..." Iroha spoke as her little sister hugged her suddenly around the waist which surprised her.

"It's going to be alright, besides, we're here to help you Iroha." Ui said as Irha smiled as they stayed up to help decide which deck is useful to beat Shark, Ui suggested an Aromage deck to gain life points, Nemu suggested a Vampire Deck, Touka suggested a Fortune Lady Deck but Iroha stuck her usual deck which was given to her and she knew the duelist.

She shuffled her cards of the given deck as she looked at her Synchro Monster, Black Rose Dragon and smiled at it knowing that it could be a useful card for battle as she placed it in her deck carrier as she brushed through her hair and stopped when didn't feel for the charm in her hair.

She placed the hair brush down and laid down in her bed thinking of ways of beating Shark before sleep took over her and she fell into the realm of dreams.

This time, she was in front of a large door and a voice spoke to her as she continued to stare at the huge door and the voice continued before she woke up to the sound of her alarm clock going off and she met the hard floor of her room.

It was Saturday and that meant the duel between her and Shark would happen at the mall and she placed her very heart and soul into the deck she had received from the lady with red hair.

Iroha built up the courage she had and walked down to the mall before Bronk and Tori met up with the pink haired girl as Bronk gave her the charm all fixed up before she tied it around her hair and smiled at her friends who wished her luck on the duel.

Upon meeting Shark at the water fountain, he saw the golden charm all fixed up and in her hair where it was all the time, Iroha sensed the darkness around Shark increase as they began their duel and Iroha had the first turn as she summoned a plat type monster to the field before activating Fallen Angel of Roses effect.

"Now! I special summon Fallen Angel of Roses in Attack Mode!" Iroha shouted as purple rose petals scattered around her before it looked at Shark with a glare while gripping onto the rose thorn whip in its hand.

"I set two face downs and end my turn." She said as Shark summoned a monster in Attack Mode and used a spell card that destroyed her monster before attacking Iroha directly as she was flung back before getting back up as her charm fell out before her hair came loose and fell down before Shark smirked.

"This is almost too easy, when I win this duel, I'll cut your hair so I can see your pretty face more often." Shark said as Iroha glared at him before he XYZ summoned Leviathan Dragon which made Iroha see the dark aura almost touching her.

Then Iroha was slammed back by the dragon before hearing the same voice call out to her before seeing the door in front of her as she held the key before running at it and stuck her hand in the key hole where the charm would fit before the door opened and she was falling and no one was there to catch her before seeing those familiar eyes as a figure emerged from the gate

One silver and one gold.

Iroha then stood up and saw Shark smirking at her before hearing the familiar voice.

"It is you..." She turned her head as she saw the figure with the familiar voice and eyes, a pale blue spirit with one gold and one silver eye and his hair stuck up, the markings on his body were unknown yet beautiful to Iroha before he spoke up to her.

"I found you...my wife..." The spirit said as he held both of her hands in his own as she just stares at the blue spirit in shock before she snaps out of it. "W-Wife?! What do you mean wife?" She asked in shock while her two friends saw her talking to the air.

"Oh wait! You must be my guardian angel!" Iroha said as Tori and Bronk thought that as well but they couldn't see who she was talking to and they kinda believe that Iroha has a guardian angel but at the same time, they thought that Iroha had hit her head too hard but she told them that it was her guardian angel.

"I am not such a thing my dear...or am I? And if I recall, my name is Astral." Astral said looking at her as she blushed before the darkness from the dragon nearly touched her as Shark smirked at the sight of her scared face. "Now that's a lovely sight to see, after I win this duel, maybe you'll be my personal maid." Shark said as Astral floated in front of her.

"Duel...yes that's a familiar word...yes I duel!" Astral said as he floated behind her and saw Monster Reincarnation. "Use Monster Reincarnation to bring back Fallen Angel of Roses, discard a level 4 monster then use Monster Reborn to bring it back and then use Rose Warrior of Revenge." Astral said as Iroha nodded as she did what Astral said before using Monster Reborn to summon Rose Paladin to her field and summoned Rose Warrior of Revenge in attack mode. "Tuner Monsters! No one ever used them except Team 5Ds!" Bronk said as Iroha Synchro Summoned Black Rose Dragon.

Everyone was stunned at the sight of the legendary dragon before Bronk called out to Iroha. "Where did you get that deck?!" Bronk asked as Iroha answered. "It was given to me by a woman, she told me that I can do best with it. I want to make her proud by winning this duel!" Iroha said as she activated Black Rose Dragon's effect, she banished a plant type monster.

Shark saw that Leviathan Dragon had zero attack points as Iroha attacked with Black Rose Dragon that lowered his life points to match hers before ending her turn as Astral how confident she felt when she took a deep breath and let it out.

"Observation number 1: To gain confidence is to remain calm." Astral noted down as Iroha saw that the monster wasn't destroyed as she saw how angry Shark got before his monster attacked her and she lost most of her life and both Bronk and Tori got worried for her as she looked at Shark before drawing a card and ended her turn with a face down.

Shark activated his trap which destroys what monster she has on her field as Black Rose Dragon roared as it shattered before she activated Reject Reborn which negated his attack and special summoned her Rose Warrior of Revenge in defense mode before Astral told her to summon another level four monster which was Aromage Rosemary as something was glowing in her deck case as she took it out and saw it.

"Now, activate the Overlay Network and summon it." He said as she nodded. "Now I activate the Overlay Network and overlay my two level four monsters to XYZ summon! Number 39: Utopia!"

Golden light blinded them all as she looked away and then the light died down to reveal a large monster holding a sword and giant wings on the back which looked like an angel to her.

Then Iroha was nearly attacked before Astral told her what to do and they copied each other throughout the duel before Iroha won as she fell to her knees and let out the huge breath she held in.

"I won...? I won! Bronk, Tori! I won!" Iroha cheered as Tori and Bronk smiled for her as she finally noticed that Shark gave her Bronk's deck and smiled at her. "You should wear your hair down more often." Shark said as he walked away before Astral smiled at Iroha who was happy and Bronk bought them ice cream for the victory.

"Observation number 2: Victory can be sweet." Astral said eyeing the ice cream, Iroha saw him and moved her cone away from the spirit who tried to take the cone but she bit down it and got a brain freeze. "Eat it slowly! Were you trying to get it away from something?" Bronk said as Iroha nodded before recovering from her brain freeze as she headed home and noticed that Ui had left her a note.

_Big Sis, I'm with Touka and Nemu for tonight._

_Just to let you know._

_-Ui_

Iroha let out a sigh as she went to her room and changed into her pjs as she laid down on her comfortable bed before feeling someone touch her hair before she noticed Astral untangling her hair as she just sighed and hugged her pillow before letting the sleep take over.


	2. In the End

Over the next few days since Iroha had beaten Shark in the duel for Bronk's deck and meeting Astral, things have been going okay for Iroha except the fact that Astral had been doting on her like she really was his wife but Iroha was too young to be married as she sighed and walked back to her home with her friends as she tried not to talk to Astral which people will think that she's talking to herself.

"You've been quiet lately." Astral noted as she flinched to the sudden sound of his voice before bumping to the light pole which earned some winces from Tori and Bronk before getting up and rubbing the side of her face while the sounds of busy traffic filled her ears as she looked to see the traffic. "How long was traffic going to be?" Iroha asked as Bronk pointed to the monorail that was stuck before something hit her in the back of the head.

She looked to the juice vender as one hit her face and Astral tried to will it to stop from hitting Iroha as it stopped as a trashbot tugged at her shirt and tried to take it off as her friends stopped it and rushed to her home.

They parted ways before Iroha heard Ui scream, acting up to her big sister instincts, she dropped her bag and rushed to see her sister at the computer with a huge error sign on it as she trembled as Iroha saw books on a project she was doing.

"My...My research...why?" Ui said before Iroha saw that she was about to cry as she grabbed her favorite blanket and a cup of her favorite tea and wrapped her sister in a blanket like a burrito and gave her some tea.

Ui calmed down before the error went away and she saw her research saved and she cheered happily before Iroha went down to cook dinner for the both of them as Astral admired how delicious the food smelled as he floated over to the kitchen and tried to snatch one of the tomatoes to eat but it floated through and Iroha giggled when she saw him trying to take a tomato before she made an extra serving as usual and sighed before taking the bowl to Ui and saw how hard she worked on her research before stopping to eat her dinner, Iroha went to her room with the two servings and sat at her desk and began eating before Astral tried to reach for the bowl but failed as Iroha giggled again as he made a note.

"So this is how humans replenish your energy." Astral said as Iroha nodded before finishing her dinner and heading to the bathroom to take a bath, she stripped her clothing, undid her hair and turned on the warm water before adding in the bath salt and turning the faucet off and stepping inside of the tub.

Iroha let out an amused sigh at the feeling of hot water relaxing her tense muscles as she let herself relax into the comforting hot water.

Before being interrupted by someone…

"Interesting, so this is a way to relax after replenishing your ener-." Astral stopped when he saw Iroha blushing a deep red that would make a tomato jealous as she held her arms close to her chest which made him curious. "Is something the matter?" Astral was starting to regret asking as Iroha grabbed a bar of soap and looked ready to throw it at him with a red face.

Astral was curious as to why she covered her body and he floated closely to her as she fell back into the tub as the water splashed onto her face.

"Wh-What are you doing?!" She squeaked as Astral back away from her as she emptied the tub and grabbed a towel to wrap around her as she turned on the heater for her room as she grabbed her pajamas before Astral noticed the privacy she wanted and turned away before Iroha told him it was okay to look.

"L-Look, you can't just look at me when I'm naked or partially naked, i-it seems wrong to." She blushed as Astral nodded before Iroha tried to get some sleep but failed because of the honking of horns and traffic going, it kept her up all night.

Then, finally at around 3:30 am, she was able to go to sleep after the constant honking and arguments from the people below as she closed her eyes and let her body rest for the last remaining time she has to rest…

Before her alarm went off and it showed the time on it as she jumped out of bed and got dressed quickly as she packed her lunch quickly before tying her hair up and heading out to school as she waved to Tori and Bronk who were at the school as she caught her breath before entering the classroom as the bell rung for the students to come inside as Mr. Kay, her teacher told everyone the digital textbooks aren't working due to the system offline because of the virus that occured.

Iroha wasn't good with technology but she did write on a notebook full of paper which made her a bit strange to write it down but she did hand it in on time.

Then a boy with blue hair, Caswell Francis, stepped up and began talking so much that made Iroha hit her head on her desk as she rubbed her temples to ease the pain before Mr. Kay told everyone that they could duel since the system was offline.

Then Caswell came up to Iroha with a determined face and a blush on his face as he tapped her shoulder. "I..challenge you to a da--DUEL! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL!!" Caswell said with a red face as Iroha got ready before seeing that her number card wasn't there except Black Rose Dragon.

Iroha took a breath and began the duel as she inserted her deck into the deck slot of her duel disk and both of them dueled until Iroha synchro summoned Black Rose Dragon to win the duel as Caswell stared at the legendary dragon before him and lost the duel.

"That was impressive Iroha, and with a deck with that, you prove everyone of what perfection looked like but Caswell showed us about mistakes, and it's okay to look at mistakes. Like cooking, the hamburger steak was a little greasy but you did okay on cooking." Mr. Kay said as Iroha nodded before Tori and Bronk talked with her at lunch before they walked home but a car honked at them and Tori recognized her to be Akari Tsukumo.

"Hey Tori, you and your friend get inside." She said as they did what the girl said as Iroha buckled in. "It's a good thing that the virus spread to a few remote servers." Akari said as Iroha asked about the remote servers.

"What would happen to the remote servers if it had spread to more?" Iroha regretted asking that question before Akari looked at her. "The entire city would've been thrown into entire chaos! Bank data would be gone, people would lose their money, hospitals would've lost medical records and the ability to help people like your little sister Ui!" Iroha teared up, her little sister, Nemu and Touka dying on their beds.

"Who would do such a thing?" Tori asked as Akari shrugged before speaking up. "Well, whoever it is, the virus seems to originate at your school library." She said as she stopped the car and the two went inside of the library before Akari told Iroha that she would watch Ui.

Iroha smiled at Akari before entering the library and kept an eye out for anyone suspicious before a book hit her head, Iroha saw the book and it had no library tag but it looked interesting as she took it to the librarian, the librarian never saw the book before the librarian let her keep the book.

It was getting late for them as the students left before Iroha and Tori saw Caswell heading over to the computers with a flash drive acting strange as they went up to him and Iroha was mad. "Tell us what you know Caswell Francis, or else I will expose the one secret you hid from us." Iroha said as Caswell knew what she was talking about, Caswell had gotten a B- on one test and Iroha helped him and never told anyone about it.

"P-Please! I'm just being used!" Caswell begged as Tori glared at the boy as he told the truth before explaining why he did it before typing on the computer and a bunch of numbers showed up like a location as they followed it to the tall tower and it got dark by the time that they arrived and entered.

It looked dark and empty, Iroha thought that Caswell was wrong but then the door slammed shut and it locked behind them as the lights turned on showing the entire room to them as Iroha heard a familiar voice from somewhere before she saw her teacher Mr. Kay.

"M-Mr. Kay?! What're you doing here?!" Iroha asked as Caswell began to explain why Mr. Kay would lead them there and then Iroha placed the pieces together, Mr. Kay was the one to use Caswell to plant the virus, then something was glowing on his neck, it looked like a number.

"That man is under the influence of a number, the only way to free him is to duel him and win." Astral said making Iroha flinch before grabbing her duel disk and inserting her deck into it and placing her duel gazer on.

"DUEL!" They both shouted as they both drew five cards, Mr. Kay went first and set a monster facedown while Iroha did her turn and summoned Rose Paladin in attack mode and setting two facedowns before attacking Mr. Kay's facedown card only to receive damage from the defense position monster, Crashbug X.

"How come her monster is alright since she took damage?" Tori asked Caswell as he began to explain. "If you attack a monster in defense position, the attacking monster isn't destroyed, even if the defending monster has more defense points. Thus, in the end, you subtract the attack points from the defense points, Iroha takes 200 points of damage!" Caswell explained as Mr. Kay began his turn.

"I draw!" He said as he smiled when he saw the card he drew. "I summon Crashbug Y! And with that, I activate the spell card Crashbug Road from my hand! Now, we each choose a level 4 or below monster on our fields, then we summon the same level monster from our hands and I choose, Crashbug Z!" Mr. Kay summoned his monster as Iroha looked over to her hand and saw Rose Paladin as a level 4.

"I choose my Rose Paladin and I choose…" She stopped when she saw the two level 4 monsters in her hand, Rose Warrior of Revenge and Aromage Rosemary, a tuner monster and a normal monster.

One to Synchro Summon and the other to XYZ summon.

'What do I choose? Synchro or XYZ?' She thought as she bit down on the inside of her cheek before Astral floated over her shoulder and whispered in her ear which monster she should use.

"Use Rose Warrior of Revenge, Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon and then destroy all monsters, use Monster Reborn to bring back Black Rose Dragon." Astral said as Iroha nodded and summoned Rose Warrior of Revenge before Synchro Summoning Black Rose Dragon to the field as it roared loudly enough to break someone's eardrums before Mr. Kay XYZ summoned his number monster.

"It appears to be some sort of data chip, capable of taking the form of a member of the Rhinoceratidae family! But what's the significance of the Number?" Caswell asked as Iroha looked at it and noticed that it had no attack points.

"That's not all, I activate Terror-Byte's special ability! Like a denominator absorbs a numerator in a perfect fractional ratio, by using one overlay unit, I take control of your Black Rose Dragon!" Mr. Kay said as Black Rose Dragon roared when it was taken by Mr. Kay.

"No!" Iroha shouted as Mr. Kay smirked as Astral was shocked at her sudden expression before Mr. Kay ordered Black Rose Dragon to attack her but Astral got in front of her and they both took the hit from the dragon before her life points went down to nearly halfway as Astral faded in and out but Iroha didn't look to Astral, she wiped the blood leaking from her lip she bit down as Caswell called out to her.

He explained why he always said 'In the End' before Mr. Kay used it and told them that they would be the first ones to witness the beginning of the virus spreading chaos.

"Your defeat is coming Iroha, I can assure you! But for now, I set one card facedown and end my turn!" Mr. Kay said to Iroha as the duel continued.

"Okay, since Black Rose Dragon is back on my field...I could activate her ability...or…" Iroha said as she thought back to what Astral said. 'Destroy all monsters, then use Monster Reborn to bring back Black Rose Dragon.'

Iroha activated Black Rose Dragon's effect to destroy all monsters on each side of the field as all shattered except for the number. "What?!" She exclaimed as Astral looked shocked at what happened in front of him. "If you forgotten, only NUMBER cards can destroy other monster cards.

Iroha summoned a level 4 Plant Type Monster and used her Monster Reborn to bring Rose Paladin back before XYZ summoning Number 39: Utopia as she attacked Terror-Byte and lowered Mr.Kay's life points but he activated a trap and regained his life points as Iroha ended her turn with two facedown cards.

Then Mr. Kay used his Monster Reborn to bring back Terror-Byte as Iroha activated her trap, Magic Jammer as his spell card shattered and then activated her Monster Reincarnation as she discarded a card and brought back her Fallen Angel of Roses.

The duel raged on until Caswell nearly confessed his feelings to her when he made a speech about her passion and potential. "Wh-What I'm trying to say, in the end, I...I...I LOVE YOU IROHA TAMAKI!!" Iroha blushed at the sudden confession from a classmate so suddenly but Iroha smiled at him.

"Caswell...I can't return the feelings but I wanna be friends, I'm not ready for a relationship." She said as Caswell understood and Astral felt somewhat relieved of the affection rejected from her before she continued the duel by summoning Revival Rose and using it to Special Summon her Fallen Angel of Roses and Mr. Kay looked like he was scared and Astral was impressed that Iroha turned the duel around so quickly as the number card lost its grip and Astral absorbed the number and Iroha panted as she fell to her knees and her friends rushed to her.

Mr. Kay woke and explained that the virus wasn't meant to plunge the city into chaos, then he told everyone to place their duel gazers on as they looked up to the sky and Iroha was shocked at the sight of the hologram.

"It's...It's...It's Crashbug! Oh! Caswell, read the description of your Crashbug!" Iroha said as Caswell dug through his cards and found it before he began to read it.

"Crashbug is an electric spirit that eats the bugs in our lives. Sadness, doubt, frustration--no bug is too big for Crashbug. If you see Crashbug on the night of a full moon, it brings you good luck!" Caswell read as finally knew what he was talking about.

"In the end, Mr. Kay wanted us to have good luck!" Caswell said as Iroha stared at the hologram and fireworks before Astral smiled at her before making an observation while looking at Iroha.

"Observation #7: Numbers can affect people; they change them. They seem to amplify their needs and desires, almost to the point of taking over...I'll have to remember that." Astral said as he tried to place his arm over Iroha's shoulder but he could only place his hand on her shoulder as she turned to see him looking at the fireworks.

_'This night isn't so bad...what else could happen?' _Iroha thought of the gentle warm breeze drafted by.


	3. Flipping Out

Iroha passed by the small shops near her school as she checked to see what the fuss was about and saw one shopkeeper dueling a kid and ending up losing as she sighed and walked by as the small boy with round glasses, Flip Turner, looked at her before grabbing a lollipop from the shop he dueled as she walked down the street before receiving a call from her little sister and she flipped when she realized that she was a bit late as she picked up the speed and began running.

"Oh man, I forgot Ui, Nemu and Touka had an appointment today, I thought it would be next week, Astral did I update my calendar?" She asked as Astral looked at Flip who had a dark aura around himself before answering Iroha.

"No, I saw that you placed the date on the last year calendar instead of this year." He said as Iroha smacked her forehead. "That explains it!" She said as she ran to the hospital.

After the appointment, Iroha brought her little sister home and let her rest with a hot towel on her head and some warm tea before Ui was asleep and Iroha had the chance to catch up with her work before Astral helped her due to being invisible and seeing other people's notes to help her catch up.

Then, Iroha went to bed with no problems sleeping after the whole the whole traffic jam from two nights ago and she slept peacefully through the night with Astral watching her as the night went by quietly.

Then her alarm woke her up and she got ready for school before meeting up with Bronk and Tori as they discussed Astral which made Bronk look confused at Iroha. "Astral?" He asked as Iroha nodded and pointed to where Astral is but she remembered that they couldn't see him. "Yeah, that's his name and to be honest, I think it fits him but sometimes he can bug me and try to eat my food but sometimes I think it's sweet."She said blushing.

"F-Forget what I said!" She said blushing before Tori teased her about her falling in love while Iroha told her to knock it off.

Tori felt a little jealous of Iroha, not because of her old crush on a boy she got over but her feelings for Iroha were rising.

As they chatted away, a new voice joined in as they looked to see Flip walking in with a bright smile and a bouquet of roses for Iroha as she took them with a confused smile. "Oh! I almost forgot, I wanted to give you this card." Flip said as Iroha saw it as Baby Tiragon and before she knew it.

She was being lifted away from Flip by her friends which really confused her before Bronk began to speak. "Iroha, we'll be late for class!" That's when Iroha looked at her watch and saw the time and sped off, leaving her friends in the dust as Flip growled at his failed attempt as he watched Iroha run to her class.

"Sorry we pulled you away, that kid's been nothing but trouble." Bronk said as Iroha tilted her head to the side like a cat would as Tori began to explain about Flip and all the pranks he pulled as Iroha nodded before they head down to class.

Throughout the day, Flip has been randomly popping up everywhere, trying to give Baby Tiragon to her but she tried to avoid him, well the one place he avoided was the girl's locker room because he would be in serious trouble if he stepped foot in there.

"You seem to keep your guard up, and not to mention that you look tired from today." Tori said as she handed a water bottle to Iroha who looked really tired from all the avoiding, her hair was out of its usual style and draped over her shoulders while she had the golden key around her neck as sweat dripped down her face either from the running in PE or from Flip.

She took the water bottle and drank half of it before taking it away and taking in deep breaths before it was time to head into the lockers and change to head home as Iroha changed into her uniform and placed her shoes on before grabbing her bag.

She didn't bother tying her hair up because of her being tired and being cautious of Flip trying to give her the card, Astral watched out for her as she walked home and to her room where she plopped down on the bed snuggling into her pillow as she hugged it, admiring the plush comfort.

"I wanna sleep right now but I have to get the mail and I have to cook dinner for Ui and me but I don't wanna." Iroha whined as she got up before smacking her face lightly to wake herself up as she walked outside to the mailbox and got the mail before going back inside and sorting through before she saw one with her name as she opened it and saw the Baby Tiragon card Flip tried to give her before rubbing her eyes from the sudden wave of tiredness on her before she took one last look at it.

It was the Baby Tiragon card Flip was trying to give her and she let out a ragged sigh before she began to cook dinner when she got a text from her little sister about her stay at Touka's and she was happy to say that her little sister was okay with her friend and she cooked dinner by herself.

Iroha cooked the dinner she had in mind which was Miso soup, a type of dinner she perfected instead of hamburger steak, Astral wished to have tasted the food she made before she finished up and cleaned the dishes as she headed up to her room and dressed for bed as she plopped down and let the sleep take over.

The next day wasn't good, she woke up feeling okay and all, she packed her lunch she cooked and began to walk to school like usual, when she got to her classroom Caswell spoke with her about the pranks she pulled but she wasn't the type of person to pull pranks and everyone in class knew it because she doesn't get jokes on April's Fools Day.

Iroha felt a little sad that Caswell didn't believe her when he showed her the pictures and she left the classroom with tears before running out of the school before Tori and Bronk were mad at Caswell for hurting Iroha's feelings and left to find her.

Iroha sat at a bench and poking her food with the chopsticks she had in her bento but she didn't feel like eating after what happened at school when she walked in, she wrapped the bento up and placed it back in her bag as she sat back and let the sun warm her up which was comforting.

Before a voice broke the silence and the nice little nap she was going to have as she groaned at the sight of Flip. "Rough day huh?" He asked as she nodded with a groan because her peaceful nap was disrupted. "And not to mention, you disrupted my nap I was going to have and now I'm awake." She groaned rubbing temples as Flip apologized.

"Well since you're awake, why not have a friendly duel? A quick one and I'll be on my way." He said as she agreed to the friendly duel to have with him as she brought out her duel disk and duel gazer before inserting her deck into the duel disk and Flip started his turn with a facedown monster and ended his turn.

"I summon Aromage Rosemary in Attack Mode so I can return her to my hand to Special Summon Fallen Angel of Roses due to her effect." Iroha said as she received Aromage Rosemary back in her hand and Fallen Angel of Roses appeared.

"Now, I attack your facedown monster!" She said as Fallen Angel of Roses used the thorny whip to attack the facedown and saw what it was.

"I take it that you're an expert on flip summons, right?" She asked as he smiled and moved his glasses up a bit before activating Porcupine Fish's effect by giving her 400 points of damage as she activated her Trap to be Nature's Reflection.

"Sorry, but Nature's Reflection let's me bounce back the damage you tried to inflict back at you." She said as Flip took the damage before ending her turn with two facedown cards as Flip summoned another facedown monster as Iroha summoned Rose Lover in Attack Mode as she attacked the facedown with Fallen Angel of Roses first before Flip activated his flip effect.

"With Chew-Bone's effect in play, I can summon up to three Chew-Bone Juniors from my deck and onto your side of the field." He said as her monsters were destroyed and replaced with the three Chew-Bone Juniors as she looked at Flip like he was waiting for her to do something as she had no choice but to XYZ summon a monster with the exact same level and it was the Baby Tiragon card.

She XYZ summoned Baby Tiragon and it looked a little sad at her before she knew exactly why, the pitiful look on Baby Tiragon, the pictures and the duel.

This was a trap set up for her and she stepped in it.

Flip activated his trap and he got to summon an XYZ monster from her deck and it was Utopia as both Iroha and Astral looked shocked and scared at the same time when Flip took their number card that was used to duel Shark and beat him.

"Hehehehehe! Sorry Iroha, but your Utopia is now under my control and it will stay like that as long as Ultra C is equipped to him!" Flip said as Iroha groaned at the sight of her monster on her opponent, Utopia had a sorrowful look on his face.

Then Flip began to be under the influence of the number before Astral dropped to one knee, grunting in pain.

"Astral?" She called out as he looked at her with a weak look as a cocoon of blue light enveloped him as she rushed over but got shock on her right hand where the skin turned red and stung badly as she clenched it but it stung badly.

"I activate my spell Double Summon! I get to summon two monsters to the field!" She said before wincing at the pain her hand drawing a card as she cried in pain when she summoned her two monsters which were Aromage Rosemary and Rose Warrior of Revenge as she Synchro Summoned her Black Rose Dragon as he laughed before activating a trap called Traitor Fog but she activated her trap, Trap Jammer, as his trap card shattered and Iroha cried through her clenched teeth as she gripped her scorched hand.

"I...roha...protect Baby Tiragon…" Astral called out to her with a weak voice as she looked at him with tears in her eyes before switching Baby Tiragon into Defense mode as it smiled at her before growling at Flip.

Iroha hissed at the pain when she set down two facedown cards which made Baby Tiragon look at her along with Black Rose Dragon before Tori and Bronk saw her and Tori had rushed over to her. "Tori, be my hand." She said as Tori helped her.

'Iroha's right hand is scorched and she's losing but she has facedowns which meant that she had a plan brewing within.' Bronk thought as he watched the duel and looked at how bad her scorched hand was.

It looked completely red like she stuck her hand in boiling water and a little scorched as well as Tori drew a card and Iroha remembered why she needed to protect Baby Tiragon. "I summon Blue Rose Dragon in Attack Position and now Baby Tiragon, use your overlay unit to activate your ability!" She said as Baby Tiragon ate one of its overlay units before Blue Rose Dragon grabbed it and then activated her spell card.

"Next! I activate Harpie's Feather Duster! It destroys all of your traps and spells! Guess you didn't think of that Flip!" She said as every trap and spell was destroyed before Baby Tiragon and Blue Rose Dragon attacked Flip directly before gaining Utopia back.

"Now Black Rose Dragon and Utopia, attack Flip directly together! Rising Sun Black Rose Attack!" She said as Black Rose Dragon and Utopia attacked together and Flip lost the duel before Astral emerged from the cocoon like a flower blooming.

"Astral, you're okay." She whispered before he saw her injury and frowned upon the injury before she smiled. "It's nothing." She said as she walked over to Flip and helped him up. "Hey, that was a pretty good duel and not to mention never try anything like that again." Iroha said as Tori grabbed her arm and began to wrap her hand up with bandages.

"Next time, maybe think of something other than the flip side, value the things in life. It's hip!" She said as Flip started bawling and hugged her.

"Th-Thank you! That's the nicest thing that someone has ever said to me! You keep the card Iroha, I'm turning over a new leaf!" Flip said as the card began to glow and Baby Tiragon came out of the card tumbling before Iroha picked up the tiny monster in her arms as it chirped.

"Observation #8: Glasses are hip." Astral said as Baby Tiragon licked Iroha's hand that was scorched which caused Astral to smile at the small monster before they began to head home and enjoy the rest of the afternoon where the classmates apologized for doubting Iroha even Caswell apologized.

Iroha forgave them all and headed home.

'I hope something like that doesn't happen again...I was worried about Astral...do I...No! I can't have feelings for someone I met only three days ago, small steps first.' She thought as she walked home by herself as Astral floated beside her while Baby Tiragon slept on Iroha's shoulder.

'I wonder what to cook for dinner…' Iroha said as she tapped her chin before snapping her fingers. "Pineapple Upside Down Cake!" She said as she got the ingredients out and began to bake it as Ui came in with Akari as they cake was done before they all took a bite and froze.

"This is soooo fluffy and delicious!" Akari said as Ui nodded her head before they finished up and Akari went home before Ui had her treatment for the night and was asleep as Iroha finished the dishes and headed up to her room and changed into her pjs before plopping into her bed and snuggling to the comfy bedspread with Baby Tiragon.

Astral watched her sleep as always.

"Night Iroha." he said before kissing her forehead.


	4. The Sparrow

"Astral?" Iroha called out in a tired voice as she woke up at midnight to see Astral watching The Sparrow on her TV with the volume low as he turned to see her awake as Baby Tiragon whimpered as Iroha cradled the little monster so it doesn't cry and wake up as it cuddled into her shirt.

"It's the middle of the night, I shouldn't be up this late." Iroha mumbled as Astral looked at her before she sighed. "Alright, I could watch this episode with you until I fall asleep." She said watching the tv until the end of the episode showed a cliffhanger for the episode and Iroha was fast asleep holding Baby Tiragon like a little baby.

Then when the sun came up, Iroha was ready for school, instead of wearing the key in her hair, she wore a loose sky blue ribbon in her hair and she wore the key around her neck as she rushed to school with Baby Tiragon held onto her shoulders before she walked down the hallway where she met up with Tori and Bronk before Tori spoke about the Sparrow in Heartland.

"Iroha! I also scored tickets for a concert for us, have you ever dreamed of going to a concert?" Tori asked in a dreamy tone hoping that maybe she and Iroha would be together but Iroha told her about crowds and never having the time to watch The Sparrow.

"It's true, I mean despite what's going on, I guess I don't have time to watch it." She said rubbing the back of her head as Tori whined. "Then I guess you can come with me to meet the Sparrow." Tori said as she held onto Iroha's hand before the bandage fell off. "Hey, you're all healed up." Bronk said as Iroha looked at her hand as Tori dragged her to the seaport where the Sparrow would be.

"I hate this." Iroha said as Baby Tiragon chirped to agree with Iroha before she was dragged by Tori again through the tall metal objects before Flip walked up to the security and tried to get in but the guard caught him quickly and Iroha was getting dizzy from being dragged around.

'This has to stop!' Iroha thought as she accidentally walked onto an empty set and fell to her side feeling dizzy as Baby Tiragon cuddled up to her before the light came down on her as she covered her eyes and before she knew it, she was being lifted away by someone. "Sorry milady! But don't worry! I am the Sparrow!" He said as Iroha looked at him as he blushed before heading to a room.

When they entered the room, he set Iroha down on a seat where she saw Baby Tiragon in his arms. "I believe she belongs to you." He said as She nodded before Baby Tiragon jumped into her arms before she smiled at Sparrow who blushed and cleared his throat.

"Now that we that out of the way, why don't we introduce ourselves with a lavish duel my lady?" He asked as Iroha nodded before Astral showed up next to her with an excited look on his face waiting for the duel to happen.

Before he screamed when he was pointing at something that made her shriek. "Spider!" He shouted as Baby Tiragon floated to it and Iroha calmed him. "Look, she's not afraid." She said as Tiragon sniffed the spider and ate it which shocked them all.

"Did she just...eat a spider?" Iroha asked as Tiragon swallowed the spider she ate before sitting on a chair. "That proves our answer." Sparrow said as he cleared his throat and Iroha smiled. "It's okay to be afraid of a little spider, even when you act, it's okay to be afraid." She said as he smiled and took his mask. "I'm just a middle school kid, I'm not a hero," he said to her.

"I can't even talk to girls properly because I stutter." He said before he realized that he was talking to a girl. "W-Wait I mean...nevermind." He said as she smiled before sitting down next to him. "I get it, behind the mask, you're a different person and without it, you're scared and it's okay to be scared and that's what makes us human." She said as Sparrow blushed and took his mask off along with ruffling his hair.

"I'm Nelson Andrews, it's nice to meet you." He said introducing himself to Iroha as she smiled and introduced herself as well. "Iroha Tamaki, it's nice to meet you Nelson." She said with a smile before a lady opened the door with a strict look upon her face. "There you are! Who is this girl Nelson?!" She asked as Iroha backed away along with Tiragon.

"M-Mom!" He stuttered as she paled completely, this was his mother and boy was she scary just by looking at her made the room very cold when the woman looked at her before snapping her fingers.

"You...You're perfect, come in sometime for the role of Mystic Archer but for now please leave." She said as Iroha left the building with Tiragon in her arms as they walked home while Astral was talking to her. "Why was the Sparrow calling himself 'Nelson'?" Astral asked as Iroha tried to find a reason to tell him before he had a saddened look before telling him it was okay.

Astral looked at her with a small smile as she smiled back before they head home so they could catch up on notes and homework, as they did, Astral could feel a sudden warmth within him as he placed a hand over where he would have a heart and he could feel that warmth there.

Then Iroha went to bed as usual after doing her homework and Astral watched over her before closing his eyes to rest a bit, though, it seemed like he really didn't need sleep but he thought of resting his eyes.

It felt strange at first, but he let his own self rest a bit.

The next day, Iroha heard that the Sparrow had gotten into trouble as she saw Nelson's mom trying to tell them that the Sparrow fights for justice and honor as she and Tori decided to help find the Sparrow and prove him innocent as they went through the day of school and headed home where they got ready.

That night, Iroha was holding a flashlight and calling out Nelson as loud as she could before thinking back to how Nelson was when he spoke to her. "Nelson! Please! I'm sure your mother didn't mean to place pressure on you, it's not her fault! Maybe we could talk about it?!" She asked before no response came to her as she looked down at the ground.

Until a noise brought her to her senses as she shone the flashlight around to find the source of the noise but no luck until she felt like someone was behind her as she turned around slowly only to be silenced by a kiss on her lips.

She could only stare at who was kissing her as it was Nelson as they ducked away from Tori as he pulled away for her to get air as her cheeks burn from the sudden kiss from Nelson. "N-Nelson! Wh-What-?" She tried to speak as he held a finger to her mouth.

"Don't follow me." He said before vanishing leaving Iroha stunned before Astral asked her what kind of contact that was and she stuttered with her words of how to explain a kiss and love to a spirit before being lost of how innocent of a bean Astral can be when he sees something new.

"W-Well, u-um, a kiss, haha...um, well...it's a symbol of love to show between two people and love...it's like a warm feeling within and your heart will begin to beat so fast, it feels like it'll pop." She said as Astral nodded at the explanation as they walked down to the set and waited before the spotlight shone on him and she saw Nelson there.

"Nelson, why are you doing this?" She asked as he looked at her. "I told you not to follow me!" He yelled as she placed her light down and thought of talking to him. "Why are you doing this? Attacking people and kissing me suddenly like that?" Iroha said as he growled a bit.

"I have to fulfill my duty to the Galaxy Queen!" He said as she thought back to the woman who looked like the Galaxy Queen. "Your mother?" She asked as he clenched his fists. "I swore to defeat Dark Emperor Furious Max and his minions!" He yelled as she looked at him with sympathy.

"Nelson…" She called out but he looked at her with anger. "Why do you call me that?! I am known throughout the entire galaxy and yet you still call me by that name! The Dark Emperor must've sunk his darkness in your pure heart and soul, alas, I must purge it by dueling you!" He said as he whipped out his duel disk.

"Very well, after all, you owe me a duel when we first met." She said activating her duel disk almost realizing how broken it looked as they both began the duel. 'I have to finish this quickly otherwise my duel disk will break!' She thought as the red light cracked which made her flinch at it.

"I draw!" Nelson said as he drew a card and began his turn. "I summon Beast Warrior Puma in Attack Mode!" He said as Astral began to explain his abilities to her as he ended his turn so Iroha could have her turn. "My turn, I draw!" She said carefully drawing the card from her deck before summoning her monster.

"I summon Witch of the Black Rose in Attack Mode!" She said placing her monster carefully on the duel disk as her monster appeared on the field before placing two facedowns. "I suppose that you're gonna attack with Witch of the Black Rose." Nelson said as Iroha nodded before beginning her battle phase.

"Now! I attack Battle Warrior Puma with Witch of the Black Rose!" She said as the monster held up her wand and began to cast a spell to attack before a trap was sprung. "I activate my trap, Trion Barrier and force your Witch of the Black Rose into defense mode! And then I can summon my three copies of my Triple Star Trion to the field!" Nelson said as three small monsters were on the field as Iroha groaned before placing another facedown and ending her turn.

"Then it's my turn! I draw, first, I'm releasing two of my Star Trions, so that I can Tribute Summon ESPer Star Sparrow is ready to crash the party!" Nelson said as the glass shatter by the impact of ESPer Star Sparrow who flashed a wink at Iroha.

"And now, I'll activate my Trion's special ability! Which means I can re-stack my field by bringing back my other two Trions in my Graveyard! Go Lavish Return!" Nelson said as his two Trions appeared and he greeted them back.

"Next! I'm activating the spell card Space Ration from my hand, and I can activate this card's power because ESPer Star Sparrow is on my field! Thanks to that, I can draw two cards from my deck and with that done, I overlay my three Trions to build the overlay network and XYZ summon, kneel before Number 83: Galaxy Queen!" Nelson said as Iroha saw the number looking similar to his mother.

"You summoned your mother…" Iroha said in a low voice, knowing that Nelson still loved his mother despite the strictness from her as Iroha went through her messages on her phone and sent one to Tori and Bronk to find Nelson's mother, she also sent a description of his mother.

"I equip the Galaxy Queen with Furious Max's curse! While under this spell's influence, the Galaxy Queen can't be destroyed in any situation! And now, I use one overlay unit to activate the Galaxy Queen's special ability! The Galaxy Queen can grant every monster on my field immortality until my next turn and allow them to deal damage even if your monster is in defense position!" Nelson said as the Galaxy Queen spoke like she would on the TV.

Iroha looked a bit scared at his monsters before her duel disk crack more at the red light which frightened her more. 'I'll have to activate my trap!' She thought as Puma destroyed her monster then ESPer was sent in to attack her before activating her trap.

"I activate my trap! Half-Off! This will cut ESPer Star Sparrow's attack in half and I draw a card after the Battle Phase!" She said as ESPer Star Sparrow attacked her which lowered her life points before she drew a card as Nelson ended the battle phase before Iroha drew another card before Nelson spoke up.

"Can't you see? You can't win! I am the Sparrow! I have traveled throughout time and space to fight the forces of evil and restore justice to the galaxy!" He shouted as Iroha kept her mouth shut.

"You can't defeat the Sparrow!" Nelson yelled as Iroha had enough of the Sparrow talking like that as she Aromage Rosemary to special summon Fallen Angel of Roses but it wasn't enough to attack ESPer Star Sparrow before she saw the spell card she needed.

"I activate the equip spell, Thorn of Malice! And I equip it to Fallen Angel of Roses to have an additional 600 Attack Points and then I'll place two facedowns and begin the battle phase. Go! Fallen Angel of Roses, attack Battle Warrior Puma!" She said as Nelson activated a trap.

"Not so fast! I activate the trap card Wings of Unity! And since ESPer Star Sparrow is on my field, I can put a stop to your attack!" Nelson said as the whip withered away and Fallen Angel of Roses went back to Iroha. "Not only that, it also allows me to summon Phoenix Beast Gairuda to the field!" Iroha looked up at the golden light before a phoenix appeared and Iroha felt the heat rising.

"Did someone call my name?" Gairuda asked as Star Sparrow and Puma looked at the Phoenix. "Glad you could swing by." Star Sparrow greeted as Puma growled at the firebird. "What took you so long?" Puma groaned before Iroha blinked at what was going on.

"Ludwig captured the Syndarian Princess again!" Gairuda said as Iroha 'sweatdropped' at what was going on before Tiragon chirped at her as she gave an awkward smile at the small monster.

"You didn't abandon the princess did you?" Puma asked in annoyance before Gairuda yelled back at him. No! I defeated the troll, saved the girl and now I'm here! And speaking of a girl, she might be a princess right in front of us." Gairuda said as ESPer Star Sparrow smiled at Iroha.

"And quite lovely as well, I must say." Star Sparrow flashed another wink at her before Tiragon hissed at him.

"I'm glad that you're here Gairuda, you too Puma." Star Sparrow said as Iroha and Astral admired the unity before snapping out of it. "Go with Ivy Shackles and then when you have the chance, discard Puppet Plant to take control of a warrior monster." Astral said as Iroha nodded at him. "I set one card facedown and end my turn." Iroha said as Nelson began his turn which made the turn for the worst.

"I activate Gairuda's ability! I draw a card from my deck and when ESPer Star Sparrow, Beast Warrior Puma and Phoenix Beast Gairuda are united on my field, I get to summon their friend from my hand--forged in a factory on the D-6 asteroid--the hero of Kaylos! Ironhammer the Giant!" Nelson said as a giant robot showed up and Iroha was knocked down by the huge gust of wind as the red light shattered which startled both Iroha and Astral as she saw the red broken glass before knicking her thumb.

"Ah!" She cried out as a bead of red water began to swell up which caught Astral's attention to the red bead coming from her thumb as she sucked on the blood so none would get on the cards she held before the giant robot looked at her. "Sorry tiny lady, I didn't mean to hurt you." He said as she smiled at him before Tori and Bronk showed up with Nelson's mom and she was surprised when she saw Nelson.

"Nelson?! Is that you? What are you doing here, it's past your bedtime and how did you sneak past the guards? Explain yourself, young man, right now!" She yelled as Iroha jumped a bit as Tori and Bronk saw some smoke coming from Iroha's duel disk as it nearly caught fire and Iroha saved her deck and herself before Tori handed Iroha her duel disk.

"Why do you call me by that name?" Nelson said as his mother looked at him with a saddened look upon her face before Iroha felt sympathy for the woman. "Nelson may be acting this way because of the pressure he felt when he was the Sparrow, he was shy when he first talked to me and he stammered with every word but as soon as he talked his feelings out, he began to feel okay," She said as she continued talking to Nelson's mother.

"All that pressure made the number card think that he IS the Sparrow, he doesn't know who he is anymore!" She said as Nelson's mother looked sorrowful and defeated as she tried to reason with her son but he kept on talking as Iroha got ready for what he was going to do.

"Let us continue, I'm using one overlay unit to once again activate Galaxy Queen's ability! Just as before, the Galaxy Queen grants all my monsters immortality--and the ability to deal damage even if your monster is in defense mode this turn!" Nelson said as the Galaxy Queen waved her massive wand before ESPer Star Sparrow smirked at Iroha who casted a glare at him.

"Now I activate my Gairuda's ability! Now he gains 300 attack points!" Nelson said as Iroha hoped that her facedown monster would work as she activated Negate Attack and Flip Summoned her monster to be Aussa the Earth Charmer. "Since I Flip Summoned Aussa, her effect activates! And I control your Ironhammer!" She said as used Stop Attack on Aussa to put her in defense mode.

"What are you doing Ironhammer?!" Nelson shouted as the giant monster could only tap the top of his fingers together. "Sorry boss, but I felt like protecting the young girl and the wonderful little mage." Ironhammer said as he blushed before Aussa pushed her glasses up as Iroha and Astral looked at each other.

Then he began to whisper in her ear about the plan from the episode he watched on TV as Iroha nodded at him before he smiled at her as she placed down two facedowns and thus ending her turn. "You're just stalling! Since you ended your turn, I will activate Tribute to the Doomed and by discarding one card, I'll destroy your Earth Charmer!" Nelson said as Aussa screamed in pain before her hologram shattered and Iroha waited for the right time.

As Nelson talked, Astral told her to wait for it and then when she saw the amount of attack points and she didn't look scared for a little bit, then during the battle phase, Iroha smirked and activated her trap Mirror Force as every monster Nelson had in play was destroyed except for Galaxy Queen before activating her Harpie's Feather Duster to destroy all spells and traps before the spell Nelson had for Galaxy Queen was gone and that left him vulnerable as Nelson ended his turn with a facedown before Iroha drew a card and began her attack turn taking the risk.

"Go! Fallen Angel of Roses! Attack with Poison Thorn Whip!! Iroha said as Fallen Angel of Roses raised her thorny whip and sent it at Nelson who activated a trap that didn't counter her attack but instead summoned Star Sparrow in attack mode without any life points as Star Sparrow was in front of Nelson to protect him and the Galaxy Queen, thus in the end, Iroha won the duel.

"I knew it...even under the influence of the number...he still loves his mother and protecting her proves how he still loves her no matter the pressure." Iroha said as she smiled and returned Tori's duel disk to her as she saw Nelson and his mother hugging before Tori tapped her shoulder.

"If you knew he was behind the attacks why did you send a text to us to find his mother?" Tori asked as Iroha sighed before she spoke to Tori in a gentle tone. "Because...I know that the Sparrow is your favorite and if I told you, you would've been heartbroken." She said as Tori blushed at Iroha.

"You really care for my feelings, do you?" Tori asked as Iroha nodded before Tori bushed even more as Iroha talked with Nelson's mother about the episode for the Sparrow.

Then Iroha got into her costume and practiced her lines with Ui, Touka and Nemu before the day of the episode practice came and they all did wonderful as they all reviewed the episode before it aired and all approved of the scenes as they began to air the episode as Iroha headed home with Tori so they could watch it together.

~~Episode~~

_Sparrow was struggling in his chains as he watched his companions become tortured from the Galaxy Queen, he began to lose hope as he felt the darkness take over him before hearing the glass shatter and he saw a girl in a white and pink cloak.__The darkness that nearly took over vanished and the Galaxy Queen looked afraid of the girl who appeared before her as she fired two pink arrows at the Crystal Staff she held to release the dark curse on Sparrow and his companions. "No!" The Galaxy Queen shouts as she placed a barrier around her.__"Sparrow...I need your help on this...do you think you could stand up?" She asked as he nodded before taking her hand and a magic circle formed when they connected hands as she felt the courage and determination from Sparrow as she healed him of the injuries before they fired off an arrow at the ground as rubble was shot at the barrier as it shattered before the archer shot an arrow at the crystal as it shattered as Sparrow saw his companions return to normal.__Then she pointed her crossbow at the queen before she saw the glass crystal holding a woman before firing at it as it shattered and broke the curse inflicted upon the queen, the queen had tears in her eyes as the scenery changed to the kingdom of light.__"Mother!" Sparrow called out as he hugged the queen while she stared at the two reunited along with his companions before she walked away before he saw her leaving and she smiled. "Maybe someday, we'll meet again." She said before disappearing.__Sparrow held onto the promise as he held onto a pink ribbon she had before kissing it. "I shall hold onto that promise." He said as the episode ended with a happy ending._

~~Episode End~~

Iroha blushed while shoving a pillow in her face as Tori and Ui cheered for her and Astral was happy to see the new episode as Iroha blushed at the compliments given to her as Tori headed home as Iroha's face was still red from blushing and Astral had to know why she was red in the face. "J-Just let me sleep!" She said as she threw the blankets over her.

"Observation #9: Humans can express embarrassment through their red faces." He said as Iroha looked about ready to throw something. "GO TO BED!" She yelled.


	5. Cat-tastrophe!

The sound of the alarm clock beeping brought Iroha's hand up to the clock to turn off the alarm before getting up so fast despite that Astral didn't want to tell her that her clock was placed on the wrong time because of a stranger that had constantly entered her room every night.

He didn't know what to tell her when she got dressed and he kept his mouth shut, plus, it was pretty early and Ui was sleeping at her friend's house so that didn't make Iroha worry as she ran the way to the school not even noticing how early she woke up because she was mainly focused on her bagel with strawberry cream cheese as she tried to dodge every trash bot that tried to grab her breakfast as she made her way to school as the janitor opened the gate.

"Thanks!" She said running inside the school which made the janitor scratch his head as to know why a young girl like herself would be here early and also the clothing was odd for her to wear.

When Iroha reached her classroom, she noticed how early she got to class and her outfit wasn't her own and buried her face in her hands as she waited for the time to go by while Tori and Bronk explained why her clothing was different as she listed off her outfits:

Outfit 1 was a Halloween costume of the Cheshire Cat

Outfit 2 was the exact outfit from the upcoming movie Watashi wa Neko (with the mask)

Outfit 3 was a pink cafe maid outfit from Nekopara.

And now her current outfit was a black kimono with cat ears.

As Iroha listed off the outfits, she noticed a connection between the outfits and that they all relate to cats as Tori also began to explain expensive bentos she's been receiving along with her swimsuit being shredded up in her locker and her missing bra ending up in a tree as Iroha noticed how long she was getting on clothes.

"If it keeps on going, I may run out of panties, bras and everything." She mumbled into her hands as Tori handed her an extra uniform for her to change into as she changed out of the kimono before jumping when Astral was looking at her clothing curiously before feeling a chill behind him as he looked to see Iroha holding her book in one hand and the other covering her chest and she seemed to be angry as she brought the book down only for Astral to dodge it.

"I still don't understand why the female species of your race seem to do that." Astral said going through the door and Iroha came out wearing the uniform and placed the kimono in her bag as Tori and Iroha talked about shopping and Iroha wasn't big on shopping when it came to clothes.

Iroha wasn't a big spender like most girls but she did save money for food when she cooked or had leftovers so she wasn't all crazy when it came to sales.

Iroha agreed to meet Tori at City Center at 3 o'clock sharp tomorrow since tomorrow was Saturday and Iroha didn't have anything to do on a Saturday.

The next day, Iroha showed at City Center at 2:50 and waited for Tori with the extra 10 minutes to spare to check how much she had, which shop she knew and the time they would be back to see if the choice was right enough.

20 minutes went by and Iroha was pacing and getting worried for her friend as she found ways to distract herself by counting the windows, the many times the litterbots says 'trash detected' and made it into a math problem before she heard meowing behind her as she looked to see so many cats surrounding her as she fell on her back and the cats pounced on her tickling her with the soft fur and rough tongues.

She was laughing hard because of the tickling as kittens were swiping their paws at Astral who was trying to flee from them before noticing Iroha laughing as she held an armful of cats. "Are you afraid?" She asked as he shook his head no with a tsundere like pout as she held a small white kitten to him and he flinched by the sight of something...so...adorable…

"How can any human pass up something so adorable like this?!" He asked nuzzling his cheek against the kitten as it meowed at the affection given to it from the spirit which caused Iroha to giggle before the blue cat ran to her with a note as she unraveled it to read it out loud before gasping out loud when she showed Astral before the cat stole her ribbon as she chased after the cat that took her ribbon as it led her to a cat mansion where she looked around and saw paintings of cats as it made her dizzy by looking around before snapping out of it and realize what she was here for.

"Tori! Tori! Are you here?" Iroha called out for her friend before another voice called out from the shadows as Iroha and Astral looked to see where the voice was coming from as Iroha saw a cat-like girl with grey hair and emerald green eyes wearing a blue cat mask.

"I've been waiting for you, Iroha." The girl said taking her mask off and placed her cat eye glasses on as Iroha tried to know who the girl was before the cat girl introduced herself to Iroha. "You may not know me, but I know you. I'm Cathy Katherine." She said as Iroha gave her a blank look.

"I know her." Astral whispered into her ear as she listened to what the spirit had to say as he told her what he knew about Cathy. "She attends your school, she is often alone and standing in the back." Astral said as Iroha felt guilty about Cathy before mentally slapping herself and getting back on track.

"Let's get to the point, where's Tori and what have you done with her?" Iroha asked as Cathy scowled at the mention of Tori before she snarled at the name which shocked both Astral and Iroha. "Tori, Tori,Tori! Is she all that you think about?!" Cathy asked angrily as Iroha gulped and answered.

"W-Well no, there's my little sister Ui and um…" She thought as Cathy looked at her with a blank look as she cleared her throat and smiled. "I'll tell you what, I'll let Tori go if you can beat me in a duel." Cathy purred as Iroha took a step confidentially and took out her new duel disk that was given to her by Shark who bought it for her after hearing that her duel disk caught fire and nearly burnt her arm and her cards.

Iroha activated the duel disk along with the new duel gazer she also got along with as the duel disk opened like a rose as each 'petal' came out and flashed online.

"DUEL!" The two girls shouted at the same time as the augmented reality came online as Cathy started her turn first as Iroha waited to see what she was up against.

"First, I'll play the spell card 'Inviting Cat' card from my hand!" Cathy said as she held up a green card which surprised Iroha a little by how her opponent started the duel off as she gave a small smile at the other girl as she ended her turn with two monsters on the field with only 100 attack points as Iroha drew a card from her deck and smiled at it.

"I summon Rose Witch in Attack Mode!" Iroha said as a virtual woman with leafy hair, green eyes with a giant pink flower on her head appeared, the clothing she wore was a green, yellow and red striped outfit with the sleeves covering the hands.

Iroha smirked as Cathy smirked back as she explained the effect of Stray Cat since she had two which made Iroha sweatdrop at the low attack points they had as she saw how confused her Rose Witch was when she looked between both cats but it would still deal damage to Cathy as she choose to attack the one on the left as the one on the right dove in and took the hit.

"My kitty!" She cried as Iroha broke the sudden sadness for Cathy. "You do realize that you still get damage right?" Iroha asked as Cathy looked at her with a blank look realizing that she was right.

"It's not fair! You hang out with that Tori Meadows girl and yet, I'm standing right here and all you care about is Tori?!" Cathy said angrily, almost yandere-like behavior which creeped Iroha out as she took a step back. "Chill." She said in a whisper as Cathy activated a spell card and summoned another level one monster as Iroha took 800 points of damage due to the effect of Monster Cat as she activated the second effect and got her second Stray Cat from the graveyard and began to XYZ summon her monster.

This made both Iroha and Astral confused at the XYZ monster Cathy summoned and began to question each other why the cat themed girl didn't summon her number and then a thought struck Iroha as her eyes widened.

"What if...she doesn't have a Number card?" She asked in a low whisper that Astral heard and he could tell that Iroha was right, he sensed no Number card from Cathy and he knew that they would have to finish the duel to set things straight with Cathy after the duel.

"I activate Twin Tail Cat Lady's special ability! Once per turn, by using an overlay unit, she can increase her attack power by 800!" Cathy said as Iroha saw the ATK on Cathy's monster go up and did the math, Iroha knew she was gonna lose if she didn't think of something quick before Cathy activated a Field Spell, Cat World as the area around them changed into a meadow full of meowing cats and kittens that made Astral gush at them before focusing on the duel first.

"Welcome to Cat World, a world where cats can play in the grass and lie in the sun!" Cathy said with a smile as Iroha saw that Cathy was right, all of the felines were happy where they were and Iroha felt a little guilty for if she won, she would take away that happiness from them.

"Now, go! Attack Iroha directly!" Cathy shouted as the red jumpsuit monster jumped at her before activating a trap with the picture of a person with a rainbow in front. "I activate my trap! Rainbow Life! By discarding a card from my hand, I gain life points equal to the damage I almost took!" Iroha said as a rainbow light covered her and regained life points.

"And that's not all, I activate Aromaseraphy Angelica's effect from the graveyard, by selecting one plant type monster in the field, I gain life points equal to it and I can special summon her to the field but banish her if she leaves it." Iroha explained as a small green fairy flew out.

"I end my turn." Cathy said as Iroha drew a card and smiled. "And now, I summon Aromage Jasmine in attack mode and I tribute Rose Witch, Angelica, and Jasmine to Synchro Summon!" All three monsters entered into three green rings as Iroha held up a white card with a dragon.

"A cold flame envelops the world, black flowers bloom!" Iroha said as rose petals surrounded the area and cats yowling to get away. "Come forth, Black Rose Dragon!" Iroha said as her ace monster roared loudly before Cathy spoke up in shock.

"You didn't bring out your XYZ monster?!" Cathy shouted as Iroha sighed. "Because, I feel like I should use both XYZ and Synchro and also, I activate Black Rose Dragon's effect! When this activates, she can destroy, spells, traps and monsters on the field!" Iroha said as the rose petals destroyed the spells, traps and monsters on each field as she held up a spell card. "I also activate Monster Reborn to bring back Black Rose Dragon and attack you directly!"

Black Rose Dragon sent vines at Cathy as she shielded herself from the attack with her arms only to receive damage from doing so as Iroha won the duel as she took her duel gazer off before walking to Cathy. "That was a great duel, so, if Tori isn't here...where is she?" Iroha asked as she took Iroha where Tori was.

* * *

"Ready? Okay...one, two three...green light...and red light!" Tori said as she turned around to see the cats frozen as she heard Iroha call her name. "You were playing red light, green light with the cats, I thought you were kidnapped or something." Iroha said as Tori blushed."Sorry, they're so cute!" Tori gushed as Astral agreed as a swarm of kittens walked over and mewed around him as he felt liquid running down his nose.

Iroha was about to say something to Astral about the liquid running down his nose but kept quiet about his nosebleed as Iroha smiled when she gained another friend.

* * *

"So this girl, Cathy? She's...interesting...I guess." Bronk said as the four of them walked down the street afterschool before Caswell spoke up. "So did you ever find out who was pranking you?" He asked as Iroha felt like Cathy was watching her as Iroha gave a small smile and shook her head. "No, I guess not." She said as Bronk and Caswell groaned.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." Iroha said as she waved goodbye to them before Baby Tiragon chirped at the sight of Iroha coming home like a dog would as Iroha giggled before calling out for her sister only to receive no reply as Baby Tiragon led her to the living room where Ui was asleep on the couch surrounded by her work as Iroha carried her sister to her room as she set Ui down in her bed and walked to her room before kissing her little sister's forehead and closing the door slightly.

Iroha let out the breath in her lungs as she walked back to her room without the feeling of hunger nor the desire to cook, she was completely exhausted and spent of energy as she undressed to only her panties and bra and pulled the cover over her body and yawned as she snuggled to the thick comforter as Baby Tiragon snuggled under when Astral watched before disappearing into the key.

Astral looked at the cards he and Iroha collected together since they met as he was in deep thought after seeing the birthmark on Iroha's back when she undressed, the shape of a shooting star was unique and often mistaken as a tattoo when he thought back to Tori talking to her about the birthmark when Iroha explained about it.

* * *

_"My mom and dad told me I was born during a meteor shower and I guess I was their wish coming true."_

* * *

Astral was 'born' on the night of the meteor showers, at least he thought so, so he placed his hand on his right shoulder where the 'birthmark' was and let out a deep sigh as he slowly let his hand down.

"I wish she would know…" He said in a soft whisper as he closed his eyes and floated away from the cards and stared beyond the vast star filled void within the key.


End file.
